Re: RC: Re: body fat and performance

[CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com]

In a message dated 12/18/99 4:59:09 AM Pacific Standard Time, 
fmechelh@c-s-k.de writes:

<< this is becoming more and more blurred here. One step further is saying 
that Body
 score 5+ means overall soundness and <5 means chronic desease, one or 
another.
 I think, the equine individuals and their eating behaviour are a little bit
 different, as with humans. Would you say from a human, eating all day and 
with a
 tendency becoming fat and lazy, that this will be a sign of good overall
 soundness, and performing well in endurance events, and a thin and nervous
 individual will not?
 
 I think there a such and such types of horses, as with humans. It's very 
clear
 that a body score 5-type horse with some more reserves will help come 
through an
 extreme (calory-consuming) type of event like the Tevis Cup 100 mile, in
 comparison to a body score 4-type. But if you own of these 
energetic-lean-one,
 who kept this form year after year, there isn't much you can do about. feed 
them
 hay ad.lib., they know when stop eating. The greedy ones never stop. >>

Frank, the body score studies indicate tendencies, not absolutes.  The 
incidence of most things can be illustrated by a bell curve of some sort--and 
that is true with the body score study, too.  There is a range of body 
scores, near the middle, that is more apt to finish.  As one approaches one 
extreme of the bell curve, one is more apt to fail metabolically.  As one 
approaches the other, one is more apt to fail by lameness.  Susan's actual 
numbers were generated on rugged, mountainous terrain, at the Tevis, as we 
pretty much all know.  Where that bell curve lies may shift in different 
circumstances (and I think you are right that it does), but 25 years of real 
life experience leads me to believe that the basic principle is still valid.  
I hope someone investigates the same thing sometime on other rides besides 
Tevis--and not just the old one-rat "my horse did such-and-such."  

I agree that there is a large variance in individuals.  They come with 
different body types, different genetic packages for different metabolic 
qualities, etc.  Some naturally have a leaner body type.  Some naturally 
convert calories to useable energy better than others.  Some regulate water, 
electrolytes, and other variables better than others.

I disagree that the higher body score horses are just greedy and don't know 
when to stop eating.  Many of them WILL consume more than many of the lower 
body score horses.  (Again, it depends on why the horse falls into the lower 
body score category.)  As a breeder, I purposefully select for horses that 
naturally tend to have higher body scores.  For the past 5 years, most of my 
horses have lived in a free-feed situation, with quality hay available 24 
hours a day, 7 days a week.  None are skinny, for sure.  But--none are 
particularly fat, either!  And interestingly enough--the overall weight of 
hay that I feed, calculated for the number of horses, runs about 5% LESS than 
when I meal-feed.  I personally think the difference is from less wastage 
rather than less consumption, but the point is--yes, they DO know when to 
stop eating.  And on an average, they consume about 10# LESS daily than do 
their relatives that we actively endurance ride.  (And sometimes those on 
free feed are ones who we've ridden in previous years, too--and they also 
tailor their consumption back to a level that keeps them only about one body 
score above where we would want them for endurance, even while they are 
sedentary.)

Also, I don't think it is accurate to portray a human that eats all day as 
being fat and lazy--I know folks who eat considerably more than I do, some of 
which are active athletes and some of which are not, who stay thin.  I 
struggle with my weight, despite trying to eat less and staying active.  I'd 
be a prime critter if I were a beef cow--rate of gain (calculated per amount 
eaten) is a prized trait there.  In beef cattle, the amount of weight gained 
per the amount of feed eaten can vary as much as 3 to 4 times, and the 
capability to convert feed to meat is a heritable trait.  The conversion of 
feed to useable energy is more difficult to measure, but 25 years of real 
life experience with endurance horses tells me that it also varies 
considerably from individual to individual.  Observation of pedigrees of 
successes and failures for 25 years also leads me to believe that that 
ability (as well as other metabolic abilities) tends to run in family lines.  
No surprise there--the Thoroughbred people have elevated the art of 
predicting athletic ability by pedigree to almost a science, although 
families also represent bell curves, so bloodlines represent a set of 
possibilities, not a finite recipe for success.

Your observation of differences between individual horses, though, is right 
on--and also you are correct, in my experience, to say that different types 
of individuals will do better at different types of endurance events.

Heidi


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